How-to guide

Set up ChatGPT

Connect Bristlenose to ChatGPT for the analysis pass.

ChatGPT (OpenAI) runs the analysis pass — speaker identification, quote extraction, and thematic grouping. Transcription always happens locally and does not use the provider.

Before you start

  • An OpenAI account.
  • Billing enabled. OpenAI requires a minimum US$5 of credit.
  • API access is separate from a ChatGPT Plus subscription, and is billed separately.

Get an API key

  1. Sign in at platform.openai.com.
  2. Open API keys and create a key.
  3. Copy it. OpenAI shows the key only once.

Add the key to Bristlenose

macOS app
  1. Open Settings (⌘,) and go to the LLM tab.
  2. Select ChatGPT and paste your key into the API Key field.
  3. The key is validated in the background and stored in your macOS Keychain.
Command line
  1. Run bristlenose configure chatgpt.
  2. Paste the key when prompted.
  3. The key is validated with a single test call and stored in your system credential store — Keychain on macOS, Secret Service on Linux.

Bristlenose looks for the key in the system credential store, the BRISTLENOSE_OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable, then a .env file.

Run an analysis with ChatGPT

Select ChatGPT with the --llm flag:

bristlenose run interviews --llm chatgpt

The default model is gpt-4o. Confirm the key works with bristlenose doctor.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Cause and fix
Invalid API key Re-copy the key from platform.openai.com/api-keys.
A run fails with a billing or credit error Add credit in the console. OpenAI requires a US$5 minimum balance.

For what is sent to the provider, see Cloud or local AI and Privacy and data.

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